Abstract
In the present study, amorphous titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanotubes were synthesized by one-step anodization technique and subsequently annealed in different environments to investigate the effect of annealing atmospheres on the formation of different crystalline phases. X-ray Diffraction (XRD) patterns clearly showed the presence of anatase TiO2 phase with various crystallite sizes. The samples annealed in oxygen and air atmospheres at 500 °C showed a dominant anatase phase and a small amount of rutile phase, on the other hand, the samples annealed in nitrogen and argon atmospheres and in a vacuum at 500 °C contained the anatase phase only. XPS analysis of the samples showed a broadening in the binding energy curves with respect to variation in annealing atmosphere, confirming the variation in surface defects, which in turn affect photocatalytic degradation. The vacuum-annealed sample showed superior photocatalytic degradation efficiency as it had relatively higher pseudo-first order rate constants (k) of 0.009/ min.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 8908-8912 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology |
Volume | 12 |
Issue number | 12 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2012 Dec |
Keywords
- Anodization
- Photocatalysis
- Surface defect
- TiO nanotube
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Bioengineering
- Chemistry(all)
- Biomedical Engineering
- Materials Science(all)
- Condensed Matter Physics